April 26, 2005

Virtual tour of a real-life Hobbit hole.

We all need a secret place to get away...

posted by kinnakeet 19 years ago
  • Cool...looks like a neat place. It kind of reminds me of a much nicer, more hospitable version of the infamous hole. You know, 'cuz it's built into a hill and everything...yeah, I'll stop now.
  • Ah, dome homes! That one would have really charmed me back in the day when I was a single semi-hippy. Too bad they don't know its status today. I may have linked to this before, but this is is the one I would want today, with some resizing, and in just the right place..
  • To be honest, a hobbit-hole would make an awesome house. Build it in a mountainside overlooking a city - say somewhere near San Jose - get electricity, water, and gas lines, and you're set. I wouldn't exactly go for this, though. Way too long of a commute... and I like having access to urban centers.
  • Erm, it's cute, but makes me think "UFO" -- like the fake one built by the mind-controlled townspeople in The Puppet Masters. But cute.
  • This reminds me of a very strange dwelling I toured about fifteen years ago in southeast Wisconsin. Someone had built a luxury home out of cement, entirely underground. The windows consisted of periscope tubes leading up to creepy looking bubbles on the surface. The place even had an indoor pool! I've tried all sorts of google searches and can find no record of it now. Does this thing sound familiar to anyone? I think that sort of thing was more prevalent in the '80s when people were still worried about nuclear holocaust.
  • I like it, but I don't like the half mile walk just to get to it from the end of the road. Walking is great and all, but there are days when I just want to go from car to house. You know, like when it's pouring and stuff. Also, while I like the outside (although I would do some plantings), I would definately do something with that interior. I understand the functionality and eco-ness of it, but I need wood, dammit. Wood makes me warm, I want wood floors (at the very least) and I would do something with those walls. That tub would get a massive overhaul, too. In other words, I love the idea, just not the way they did it.
  • I rather imagine that the stoner in me would really come out in a place like that, too. Hey, maybe that'll be one of my plantings.........
  • It`s the Telletubbies love shack
  • Another Tellytubby house.
  • Now that is cool Plegmund!
  • Charlevoix Michigan has a neighborhood built in the '30's by a man named Earl Young.. Locally they are called Mushroom Houses.. I found them accidently when doing a tour of that part of the state and spent a day driving around looking at these places... another example of real life hobbit houses! Mushroom Houses More images at this Google Search And, kinnakeet..thanks for the link... I was surprised that I couldn't find any other references to this place online... how did you happen to find this?
  • But... OMG! I found this one, and it puts everything else like it to shame! The ultimate mushroom house! I WANT this house!
  • I seethe with envy for these. I'd love to have a place like this to go to.
  • I too am doing the envy seethe. Cool post, kinnakeet, thanks (and welcome to the magical mysterious monkey house).
  • A subjective perception of hobbit holes: Believe Marianne Moore's imaginary gardens with real toads in them can be a kind of hobbit hole. Or going down a rabbit-hole as Alice did. Such structures last a lifetime, in my experience, and, once acquired, can be easily toted about.
  • HuronBob, I've had the privilege of spending the night there. And Darshon, it was in fact the definitive stoner hangout. By candlelight, however, the place was mind-expanding without the addition of a single substance. It is a place much-mourned, but remembered well by the Alfred University classes of 1976-1980... many legendary parties were held there. Imagine the woodstove glowing cherry red while a blizzard swirls outside, with psychedelically-enhanced partygoers chanting and beating rhythms on the floor--which was largely wood, by the way. Another nice detail: the sink drainboard (not pictured) was comprised entirely of scavenged broken crockery pieces set in plaster. Due to its remote location, the Dome was mighty attractive to varmints, and a visit usually included banishing various beasts from the entryway etc. Critter deluxe, for sure. BTW, it is a pleasure sharing with such charming monkeys!
  • Here's the piece de resistance... http://www.elements.nb.ca/theme/building/bill/lishman.htm there are also some nice cave dwellings in Austrailia. Check out Nation geographic if any ones interested.
  • OMG, is right!!! All these pictures have made me seethe with envy. I think I might cry. Such magnificence.